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Thursday, February 11, 2010

B.C.P

BCP is Brush Cleaning Program and has to be done every time you use your brushes to keep them in their best possible hygienic conditions. Hygiene is the most important aspect of a clean makeup and people will recognize you even with the hygienic practices of yours as a makeup artist. I love to be very organized when I do my makeups, whether it is at the counter or a photo shoot or anything per se. I always organize the shades that I am going to use, the brushes that I need and the consumables like cottons and tissues in a small area on the right hand side of my client (as I am a righty) so that there is not a speck of confusion in getting the look right.
But the most important part of the entire makeup session is the hygiene. Hygiene makes the makeup application safe and does not cause any cross contamination. This includes cleaning of brushes too and that's what we are going to discuss in today's post.
Brush cleaning is divided into two parts, On-the-spot cleaning and deep cleaning. This is done according to the convenience of the makeup artist but it's a must to incorporate this in your makeup routine. All this is to avoid infections caused by micro organisms that grow over the cosmetics clinging to the brushes or when we apply makeup to a lady who carries bacteria and pus and when the same brush is used on another lady without washing it. Cross contamination can lead the client into a serious trouble with really bad infections that can rise from this. It all starts from infected brushes and unhygienic conditions and all this can be kept on bay by using the right stuff.
So many bloggers and makeup artist have their videos on youtube and give directions on how to clean the brushes. But unfortunately most of the special brushes cleaning products that they use there are not found in India. That's why I am writing this post.

ON-THE-SPOT BRUSH CLEANING

This is when you are very busy and shuffling your schedules and running around places to do makeups and have no time to really wash your brushes. Brushes are like babies and one has to really take care of them to make them last longer and better. Its not only about investing in good quality brushes but also in ways of taking brush care.
When you are so busy with no time for brush cleaning, the best way to clean the brushes is wipe them over Baby wipes. Baby wipes are alcohol free wipes that sanitize and keep the baby's bottom soft and fresh. If they could do that to something so delicate, why not use baby wipes for brushes. Yes, they come at a price but its worth. What you have to do is wipe your brushes over the wet tissues and keep them for drying for 5 min. since the baby wipes are alcohol free, they do not dry the bristles of the brushes or make them brittle. It is just the Triclosan which is antibacterial and sanitizes the brushes. Very good for natural hair brushes as they remain very soft and smell like a baby too.
MAC cosmetics sell their brush cleaner in India for Rs.550 and its good at times to clean your brushes with it. The isopropyl alcohol sanitizes the brushes killing 99.99 % bacteria and sometimes even spores. You have to take some brush cleaner over a tissue paper and wipe your brushes over it. Keep them for drying, flat on the table and they dry up in 5 min. I am not very much in favor of this because the alcohol that evaporates very fast dries of the brushes and makes them hard with brittle hair that break down very easily. This makes the brush lose its life and you wont feel like using the brush again.

DEEP CLEANING

Magazines always advice a mild shampoo or a baby shampoo to clean your brushes. What I do is since I clean my brushes every week I alternately use Sunsilk anti hair fall shampoo and The Body shop shower gel in my favorite flavor Wild cherry. Since both of these are not with very strong chemicals they are very gentle on the brushes. I also used my Clinique Happy hair and body wash for brushes but since it got over and I don't have another one, I stopped using that. I use the body wash as it not only softens the brushes but also imparts a fresh fruity smell that can sometimes mask or take off the hideous chemical processing smell that comes from the brushes at times.

HOW TO DEEP CLEAN?

Again taking a shampoo on the hand and washing every brush is very time consuming and wasting of the product. Plus I feel if you use a lot of shampoo per brush you might have some remnants of shampoo in the brush that does not wash off completely and soaps can smell really bad if they are retained for a long time. So I take a drop of shampoo in a small container. Fill it 1/8th with running water to make lather. Then divide my brushes according to face, cheeks, eyes and lips. And then wash every group separately in a fresh solution. You have to just rotate the brushes swiftly with the care that the water does not reach above the handle (a little is ok, not to worry if the handle gets wet) and then wash them under running tap water. After this I gentle wipe of the excess water on a towel and keep them on a flat dining table over a Turkish towel for drying. My brushes dry within 3-4 hrs naturally. Do not rub the brushes harshly over the towel as they might lose the shape that they are made up of. And their hair may go haywire. I dry them flat and not standing coz the gravitational pull on latter will make the brush lose its natural shape.
The larger the brush, more the time it takes to dry, so be patient.

DONTS

Never use warm or hot water to clean brushes. It might expand and contract the metallic brush ferrule and the ferrule may loosen up from the handle.

Never shake the brushes vigorously after washing as they might shed a lot of hair and become wobbly over time.

The natural hair brushes are like human hair in texture and in components. So they retain moisture in the brush, so never leave the brush wet in your brush belt as it might alter the shape.

Always keep your brushes safe in a brush belt with a guard. This will make the brushes retain their regular shape.

Do not use very hard water for washing the brushes too as it might make the brush hairs brittle.

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